My Dear Friends,

In the midst of the beauty, the mystery and the power of our Catholic faith, is a calling from our God to discover that there is in life something greater. God is inviting us to imagine an even greater reality than we presently know!

It is the story of our salvation. It is the unfolding of a promise that leads us to faith which in turn directs our hearts to that something greater to yet be revealed.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the prophets and many others pursued that promise. They and many other faith filled women sought the wonder their faith urged them to discover.

Jesus came to fulfill that promise. His life, his mission, his passion and death all direct us to seek that promise he fulfilled when he died and rose on the Third Day,

He commanded his disciples to follow him. If we follow in their footsteps by loving one another as Christ loved them and loved us, then the promise becomes ours. Its fulfillment is God’s ultimate gift to us.

The path to the fulfillment of that promise leads us to embrace a spirit of gratitude (check out today’s gospel) and promote the value of social justice (i.e. Respect Life).

It is fitting for us to give thanks to God for all the blessings he has bestowed on us. We are beneficiaries of God’s abundant grace. It is also necessary for us in that same spirit of gratitude to act prudently in the world by promoting the 7 principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

In this way, that greater reality becomes real and the we help to bring about the Kingdom of God.

Fr. Tom